Cold nights
by Diamond snow
Summary: Takes place in the Marauder Era in their seventh year. Mainly told from Remus', Lily's and James' point of view. The story is about everyday life on Hogwarts; homework, Quidditch, love, issues plus everything inbetween! Rating to be safe. Mainly Lily x James, Lily x Remus and slight Remus x OC (friendship, I swear!). Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Subzero glances

AN: This is the first time I'm writing a proper Harry Potter story! This takes time in their seventh year before Christmas. Main pairings will be Lily and James (romance), Lily and Remus (friendship) and possibly Remus and OC (friendship, I swear!).

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters. They belong to J.K Rowling. The only characters that are mine are Alice, Mathilda and Nicolas.

* * *

**Subzero glances.**

It was 7:10 AM sharp at the Gryffindor tower. It was in the start of November and the windows were covered in a thin layer of frost. The classes would start in about an hour and some of the students were already starting on their morning routine. But three of the seventh year students were an exception to this; they were still half-asleep. A somewhat shrill sound then sounded inside the room where the seventh year boys lived. "Blimey…I hate you for this Padfoot" groaned a guy who had pitch black hair that stood in all directions. His hazel eyes were a bit clouded due to his half-awake state. "It's called tough love Prongs. Deal with it" replied a male who had managed to get into a sitting position. His hair was the same colour as his friends, but it was a tad bit longer. The hazel-eyed teen went over to the chair at the other end of the room with an icy look in his eyes. One thing that he really hated was the magical clock that his uncle had gotten him during his first year. The clock had a sort of wake up guarantee, which was not odd considering the annoying sound it made. It sounded like a mix of a sobbing baby mandrake, a merman who mumbled in mermish plus a forest troll that tried to sing England's national anthem with varying voice pitch. His fingers then fumbled a little with the magical clock before it stopped ringing. "What took you so long!?" moaned a boy with dishwater blonde hair in the bed opposite to him. He was a bit chubbier than the other two. "I can't see without my glasses you know" muttered the black-haired male as he went over to his bed again after he had put down the bronze-coloured clock.

He put on his glasses and the room soon became clear again. His friend Sirius was already trying to brush out the knots in his hair while his other friend Peter was changing into his uniform. "We're not as late as we thought, but we better not slack off" told the blonde as he adjusted his red and gold striped tie. "Good to know Wormtail. I hate running late" muttered James as he put on his black trousers. "Weird…I find you doing it all the time" laughed the guy who had finally gotten the knots out of his ebony hair. His friend rolled his eyes before he put on his trusty brown leather shoes. The trio then went down to the Great Hall for their breakfast.

The Great Hall was full with students who were enjoying their breakfast. A smell of bacon, toast, tea as well as fruit filled the room. Most of them were reading the Daily Prophet while some of them were discussing the upcoming Quidditch match next week. Hufflepuff were facing off against Slytherin during the All Hallows Eve weekend. The said male smiled when he saw a familiar female at the end of the table next to one of her friends. The trio sat down at the opposite side and started to eat. "How're you Lily?" inquired the hazel-eyed teen. "Not too bad. And you three?" replied the female with a smile. "Not too bad. My left knee is still a little sore though" muttered Sirius. He was glad that it was only his knee that had taken a hit; a black eye or bruised nose was usually a bit harder to hide. "I-I'm a little nervous since we will face boggarts today" stuttered the older male. "Don't be. I'm sure you'll do it fine this time" assured the redhead. Peter was not doing too great when facing boggarts, even if he was taking NEWT's in defense against the dark arts. "Where's Remus? I hope he's not…seriously ill" muttered the girl as she poured herself a cup of tea. She had a worried look at her face. "He'll be out in time for the first or second class today. Or at least that was what Madam Pomfrey said" told the bespectacled guy with a semi-assured voice. She let out a sigh of relief before she started to eat her apple. The four Gryffindors then headed towards the second floor to start their first lesson of today, which were charms with professor Flitwick.

* * *

The room was buzzing with activity as the NEWT students prepared themselves for today's lesson. It was apparently a repetition of last week's spells since they soon had a practical test coming up. James had agreed to sit with his blonde friend because he needed some help with the charms. Lily sat at the back at her own while Sirius sat in the middle next to a Hufflepuff guy. "This lesson better not be as hard as the previous one. My colour change spell went pretty bad" told James. During their last lesson, he had turned a turquoise stone bright orange. This would have been great if their assigned colour had not been bright purple. "I'm pretty sure we will have water or ice spells. We had that right-". A 'clack' could be heard as the professor entered the room. The noise soon died down as he climbed up at the teacher's desk. "Good morning everyone! I hope you've all slept well. I'll take the name call now. Abrams?" started Flitwick. "Yes" replied a Slytherin who sat in the back of the room. "Black?" called the man. "Here!" answered the guy with a grin. As the name calls continued, Lily noticed that the door opened. A somewhat sheepish looking Remus entered the room before he closed the door as silent as possible. He sat down next to the female with an apologetic smile. "Have I missed anything?" muttered the brunette as he took up his wand. She shook her head while she picked up her book. The name call then came to an end and it was time to start the lesson. "Great; looks like almost everyone is here. We're going to practice on glacia as well as aguamenti during our lesson. Elemental spells are a staple for the NEWT's, so I hope you do your best to master them. I will split you into pairs during this lesson. The reason for this is because your homework to next week is to practice both of the spells together" told the teacher.

Most of the students gave him a small cheer. This was a type of homework that was quite enjoyable since they could help each other. "Remember that you need a good amount of concentration for both of the spells. They may be spells you learned in your earlier years, but you need focus in order to get the aim right. Let me demonstrate" said the male as he placed two glasses at his desk. One was an egg glass while the other one was something that looked like a muggle shot glass. He pointed his wand at the egg glass with an intense focus in his eyes. Soon, the egg glass brimmed with water. Flitwick then did a small tap on the egg glass and the water turned into solid ice. "I expect all of you to be able to fill this glass to the top with water next Wednesday. You should also be able to freeze it at least half-way. Please find your books now while I write up the pairs" told the man. Remus rummaged in his bag and hoped that he had remembered to bring his book with him. He had been discharged from the hospital wing right after breakfast, so he had to rush to his bedroom in order to get his books. 'At least Flitwick is not as strict as our defense against the dark art teacher' thought the male. He let out a sigh of relief when he found his book stashed in the bottom of his backpacker. The brunette laid his book on the desk before he saw a note. "The note on your desk will have the name of your partner. Please open them up now" told the professor. He opened up the note and saw the name "Lily Evans" written at it.

"Who did you get Moony? I got that Slytherin back there" muttered his black-haired friend with a sour look in his grey eyes. "I got Lily. Wondered who James got" replied the guy. He got his answer when he saw his friend starting to tell Peter how to move his wrist. "Should we get started Remus?" inquired the redhead. "Yeah…I suppose so. Ladies first" replied the Gryffindor with a small smile. Their teacher had now placed a pair of muggle shot glasses at each table that they could use. "All right then. Here I go" muttered the girl as she looked at the shot glass. She pointed at it with her wand and moved it slightly. Water started to come out from it, which was a good sign. The male tried to study the technique that she used since that would make it easier to help her. Not that Lily was bad at charms in the first place; she was one of the best students in the class. "Keep it steady Lily…" muttered Remus as she noticed that her hand was shaking a little. "Sorry. I'm a little nervous about this" replied the female. It was a weakness of hers that her hand started to shake when her nerves started to act up. "Don't be nervous. I won't tear you apart" assured the guy with a tiny grin. A small giggle escaped her mouth as she managed to steady her wand. The water had poured over the glass, but she had not spilled as much as she had thought.

"I think you just have to keep an eye on the water level plus steadying your hand. You'll be fine once you get that right Lily" told the brunette. "Thanks Remus. James will hate me for this, but I think you're a slightly better critic than him at this" admitted Lily. "I'm happy to hear that. I hope you keep that nice thought in mind since it's my turn now" replied the male. He used a drying spell to remove the water before he tried to fill up the glass. Filling the glass up turned out to be harder than what he had initially thought. Remus was able to keep his hand steady, but at the cost of losing focus a bit during the process. 'Focus now Remus. You can do this' thought the guy as he took a shaky breath. He did not complete the task and spilled water all over the desk as well. "I don't think you did that bad Remus. Your hand did not shake, but I think you should go to bed a little earlier than usual" suggested the girl. "I agree" sighed the brunette as he pulled a hand through his hair. Full moons during the late autumn as well as the winter were always the worst. The nights were longer plus that the cold meant that he froze quite a bit when the fur disappeared. "The lesson is over. Remember to revise your charms for next week!" reminded Flitwick. Everyone picked up their stuff before leaving the class room.

* * *

'Merlin. Maybe I should call it a day' thought the male as he went towards his astronomy lesson. He felt a bit dizzy plus that he had only eaten a slice of toast for breakfast. Not to mention that he had not slept that much that night. 'Be strong Remus. At least this will be your last lesson before lunch. And you'll only have two lessons after that' thought Remus as he turned a corner. He then bumped into someone who was a bit smaller than he was and dropped some of his books at the floor.

"Sorry! I didn't watch were I was going!" exclaimed the person he had bumped into. It turned out to be a blonde Ravenclaw boy who appeared to be 14 years old or so. Judging from his dialect, he was probably Scottish. "I'm fine. I just don't feel so well" told the guy as he picked up his astronomy book. "Thanks for helping me out" replied the boy with a smile as he laid his books into his bag. He then went down the hallway. The brunette then entered the class room. It was nearly empty except two students from Slytherin who were about to leave. He looked up at the clock…it was almost ten minutes until the lesson would start. It would be a while until the other Marauders would arrive. 'I'm pretty sure James said something about testing out a mini slime bomb right before the Astronomy lesson. Better hope that nobody gets injured or anything' thought the male. Being a werewolf meant that friends did not come by easily…especially not those who were as kind as the ones he had. They had all accepted his – ahem – furry little problem despite the dangers that came with it. The only downside was that he had to put up with their antics all the time. This caused a bit of a dilemma on his behalf since he was a prefect and everything.

Suddenly, he heard someone scream further down the hallway. He got out of the classroom to see what it was. Nobody was outside the classroom and Remus decided to check out the hallway. Near the end of it stood the blonde boy he had ran into earlier as well as his three friends. The boy he had bumped into earlier was covered in bright, grass green slime from top to toe. He did not look very happy judging from his facial expression. "What did you do that for!?" yelled the young male with an angry voice. "We had to see if our new slime bomb work. Too bad you were in the way" told Sirius with a grin at his face. "Hmph. Can you please remove the slime of my uniform at the least? Professor Slughorn will mistake me for a snail if I show up like this for his lesson" replied the Ravenclaw. "I'll remove the slime for you. Stand still for a moment please" offered the brunette. He waved his wand and used a banishing charm at the slime. Most of it got away, but some of it was still stuck at his face. "Thanks" told the boy before he wiped his face with a self-cleansing handkerchief. He then gave the Marauders an icy cold glare when he left the corridor. "Don't be such a spoilsport Moony" told his friend.

"Padfoot…I don't think most people appreciate to be covered in neon-green sticky slime. Particularly when they're on their way to the next class" replied the guy. "Yeah yeah, I'm aware of that. I promise to be a bit more careful when we try this later on. But I honestly thought everyone had left" stated the shaggy-haired male. Their class mates had started to appear by now and they entered the class room. Remus sat next down to Sirius at the left end of the classroom, right behind a blonde girl from Ravenclaw. "Crikey…I forgot my quill. Do you have an extra one Moony?" asked the guy. "Sorry" replied the male with a wry smile. Sirius then poked the girl who sat right in front of him. She turned around a moment later with a quizzical look at her face. "Do you have a spare quill?" inquired the black-haired guy. The girl sized him up before she gave him a sharp look. "No, I don't" replied the blonde with a slightly frosty voice. She then turned back while the male raised his eyebrows. "Did I look at her in a wrong way or something?" inquired Sirius as he looked at his friend. "No…I don't think you did. Was she one of the girls you gave those stinky Valentines cards to last year?" suggested Remus with a small smile. "Heck no! Those girls were from Slytherin! Those Ravenclaw girls would have probably figured out it was me after all…they're the smart people in this castle" stated the male with a mortified look. They chatter was then cut short when their astronomy professor showed up. It was time for studying the planets.


	2. Chapter 2: Just a cool every day life

Looks like I'm off to a good start! I thought I could publish the second chapter now so people could get a better look into my OC's life.

Cassia4U: Thank you for the review! I'm happy to hear that you liked the start of my story. I try to space out the paragraphs, but they don't want to stay that way when I save the document.

* * *

**Just a cool every day life.**

It was the end of the school day for most of the seventh year students. Many of them were on their way to the library or their common rooms to study. Other students (mainly Hufflepuffs) were going to the Quidditch arena to practice. The match with Slytherin was only one day away and they needed the practice they could get. Lily looked at the list of homework she had written down in her magical calendar that she had gotten her last birthday. 'I need to practice my charms with Lupin, but that's not until tomorrow. Then I have to finish up my paper for the herbology and then work on my essay for muggle studies' thought the female. She had decided to take muggle studies in order to qualify for more jobs. Telling an employee that you were a muggle borne in a conflicted era like this was not a smart thing. So taking muggle studies and get a good grade there was a much better (and less dangerous) option in her opinion. The redhead decided to go to the library in order to get her homework done. James was working on the charms homework with Peter, so she decided to take a time-out for herself. The library was rather silent apart from the few coughs or whispering among those who were working there. Most of the room was well-lit apart from the restricted section at the far north end of the room. She liked this part of the castle quite a lot apart from the quietness. Large bookshelves filled the room while the air smelled faintly of parchment. It was to be expected since this was a library filled with several thousand books and documents.

Her bright green eyes looked at the book she was supposed to get. 'From oaks to orchids: a European study by Monica Bach' said her handwriting. She then walked towards the grand shelves that were in the herbology section. Many of the books were a bit old or a bit worn-down. 'There it is' thought the girl when she saw the book with the title she looked for. It was medium sized, but had a somewhat colourful cover. Her hand pulled the book out of the shelf before she went towards the study area. She found an unoccupied table and started to read her book. 'Where was I…oh. I need to choose ten orchids that are supposed to be threatened in Spain plus their reason for that' remembered Lily. She turned up her book and scanned the different tables for information. Her eyes widened a bit; there were at least FIVE different orchid types that were threatened in just the southern regions! 'I better get cracking since the essay is due on Wednesday' decided the female. A part of her felt a bit dreadful since the NEWT classes required quite a bit of work. She had gotten fantastic results on her last exams with no grades lower than E. Which was a feat considering that her timetable consisted of charms, herbology, transfiguration, potions, defense against the dark arts, muggle studies, astronomy plus ancient runes. Her bright green eyes the pages for the information about this particular orchid. It was the fifth one on her list, so it meant that almost half of her task was done. 'The Andalucia orchid is usually found in the Malaga province. The flower is in bloom from late April to late August. It is easy to recognize due to the vibrant golden yellow hue that tends to shine in the sunlight. Each petal usually has a very thin deep orange stripe, making the flower look like the sun itself. Many Spanish wizards in old times used it in antidotes for creatures that were active at night. The reason for this was that creatures like owls or bats hated the plant' read the text.

"Hey Lily. Reading about your namesake?" whispered a voice. She looked up and saw James standing in front of her with a smile. "No. I'm reading about the Andalucia orchid" replied the redhead with a somewhat dry voice. She preferred to not be disturbed while working, but she secretly enjoyed his company a little. He had been a bit less annoying lately plus that he had not hexed so many people since they lasted. Last time the girl had checked, he had only let eight (ten if the aguamenti charm counted) younger students become the target of his mischief. "You're working on that task huh? Why did you choose that one? I think the Rioja orchid had a more interesting reason" informed the male. She raised an auburn eyebrow in surprise. "Have you already finished your paper?" muttered Lily in slight disbelief. "No…I just finished the first third until Peter needed help with his charms. I came back here to hand in a book I had borrowed for my repetition of the sixth year transfiguration spells" admitted the hazel-eyed guy before he pulled up a somewhat thick book named 'Transforming and transfiguration: Foolproof advices for all levels'. "Hey! That was the book that I used too!" whispered the female in slight disbelief. "Exactly. I thought if it was good enough for our top student, it should be good enough for me. And Sirius found it a great help too" told the guy with a skinny grin at his face. She could not believe it. Had James Potter borrowed a book to improve his spells? Spells that were not even a part of a test, exam or any type of ? 'I can't believe it. Merlin…the world must be going under' thought the redhead as she shook her head. "Nice to see you Lily; keep up the hard work. I better get back to Peter to make sure he does not spray water on Sirius or one of the girls. I'm not sure who of the two are going to be the angriest" muttered the raven-haired male with a sparkle in his eyes.

A small laughter escaped her mouth when she imagined the chubby boy being chased down by a mob of angry girls with soaked clothes. "I'll keep up the work. Make sure Peter doesn't get beaten up by the girls or Sirius" replied the girl. He nodded before he disappeared behind one of the nearby shelves, leaving the library. Lily then continued with her work on the herbology paper while she mused over the orchid he had told her about. Curiosity got her and she decided to look it up in the book. Pale fingers turned a couple pages in the search for the answer. 'Pretty sure it was…here it is' thought the female as she saw the headline that read 'Rioja'. 'The Rioja orchid is usually found near Granada. It is in bloom from early April to early October. It is easily identified by its pink petals that are golden near the stigma. The Rioja orchid is highly prized among Spanish and Portuguese witches. Flowers as well as sap from this plant are often used in perfume or dried to use as burning incense' said the text. 'Hm…maybe I should take a small break' decided the redhead. She got up from the chair as quiet as possible. The girl then stretched her body a little bit; sitting still for so long was not good for her body. Lily went over to the window to see how Hufflepuff was doing at the Quidditch training court.

* * *

Cobalt blue eyes scanned the court. She gripped onto her bat a bit harder as she noticed a bludger that was on its way towards one of the chasers. Mathilda pulled the broom handle a bit while she stretched her right arm backwards. CLAAANG! The bat connected with the top of the bludger and sent it straight towards the west end of the court. One of the chasers gave the female a grateful look as he started flying a bit higher. "Let's call it an end shall we!?" shouted the captain while he brushed some brown hair away from his face. Everyone flied down at the ground while the keeper used a spell in order to get the bludgers and the snitch back. "Good job everyone. I think we should be prepared to face Slytherin on Saturday" told the guy with a satisfied smile. "I just hope they don't crush us" told one of the chasers with a grim look at her face. "I don't they will; we just have to do our best. That's what Hufflepuff is all about right?" told the male brunette. "YEAH!" shouted the entire team while they lifted their arms in the air. The keeper then appeared with the snitch and bludgers in his arms. "I got the tools here captain" told the guy after he had landed on the green grass below him. "Great job, thanks for getting them. Let's take a good shower and remember to get in bed early" said the guy. Everyone nodded as they left the court after a minute. Mathilda entered the locker room with the seeker as well as one of the chasers. The room was not that big since there were not so many female Quidditch players. But on the other hand, it was probably cleaner than the male locker room. Not to mention that it probably smelled a bit nicer.

"I'm a bit nervous to be honest…I know that Slytherin is quite good" muttered the youngest female. "Don't worry Connie. I'm sure we'll give those snakes a run for their money" laughed the chaser as she put on a cornflower blue sweater. The oldest female put on a golden yellow sweater before she removed the hair elastic. She did not like to wear her hair that tight unless she had to. All of the girls then left the locker room as they headed for the Hufflepuff bathroom. It was better to shower there than in the locker room since the showers there were magical. "Goldie! How was the training!?" called a voice from behind. The red-blonde hair girl turned around to see her best female friend. "Silver! Nice to see you" replied the girl with a smile at her face. "Silver" was a nickname that she had given to her best friend Alice Henderson. They had met each other during their first year at Hogwarts and had been best friends ever since that. Both of them were Scottish (they were living near Aberdeen and Dundee respectively), had a witch mother plus a muggle father. Not to mention that they both had a brother too. But their interests were not that similar. The Hufflepuff was into games such as Quidditch or wizard chess. But her friend however preferred reading or taking photographs. Her grandparents had actually bought her a small, magic camera for her 16th birthday. "So, are you guys ready to beat the Slytherins to a pile of goo?" inquired the other female while she corrected her blue and black striped tie. "I hope so…we're just going to do our best. How far did you get on your homework?" inquired the older female. "I managed to finish my divination homework and I got started on my essay in muggle studies. When are we going to practice on our charms?" replied Alice. The duo then entered the Hufflepuff common room after they had walked down the stairs. Since it was not as high up as the Ravenclaw or Gryffindor common room, it had a somewhat cozy atmosphere. There were deep golden sofas near the fireplace while the room itself smelled faintly like cinnamon.

"I thought we could practice on them on Saturday evening. I need an hour or two to calm down after the match. But knowing you, you've probably mastered those two spells by then" laughed Mathilda. Her friend was actually one of the best in their class at charms. "I don't think so. However, I think I may be able to give you a hand if you need" replied the younger girl. "How is your brother Nicolas by the way? I heard that the Gryffindor trouble quartet managed to slime him" inquired the older female as she sat down in a sofa. "He's doing all right...one of the four actually removed some of the slime. But he smelt a bit like rotten fish for the rest of the day" said the ashy blonde girl with a grimace on her face. She had ran into her brother when she was on her way to the astronomy lesson earlier that week. The girl had noticed the smell and asked him what was going on. Nicolas had told her what had happened, which made her a bit angry. She usually did not mind what that quartet was up to unless it was something dangerous, humiliating or maybe even both. The event with that Slytherin in the end of their fifth year was one example of what she did not tolerated. "I think I'll go to bed soon. Maybe you should go back to the Ravenclaw tower before it gets dark" told the red-blonde girl. Her friend glanced up at the magic watch; it was already 09:30 PM! "I better get back to the common room. I'll see you tomorrow Goldie" muttered the younger female and went out of the Hufflepuff common room.

The sky outside was quite dark plus that the lights had been dimmed a little bit. A part of her felt a bit shaky; she REALLY did not liked to be in dark rooms. 'Calm down Annie. It's just up a couple of stairs before you get there' told the Ravenclaw to herself as she tried to control her nerves. She then walked towards the Ravenclaw common room a minute later. Her heart beat at a higher rate than earlier while her nerves were tense. First up was the staircase that went to the second floor. The girl walked onto it while she held on the rail. A sound that reminded her a bit of two stones that were moving was heard as the steps moved. 'Only two more to go then' thought the female as she walked off the staircase. She then tried to enter the next when she noticed that it had turned away from its usual place. It went to a corridor on the south-west side instead of the south-east side. "MERLIN…!" swore Annie as she rolled her eyes. The girl was fully aware of that the staircases moved to their own accord sometimes since she was a seventh year student. But this was quite a bad timing for them to do so. She turned her head to see if there was anyone around here that could help her. Ice blue eyes looked around in the small corridor, but there was nobody there. 'Great. I'm stuck. Or at least I'm stuck until someone comes around to help me' thought the ash blonde female with a sour expression at her face.

"Well hello there fair maiden" called a voice from behind. She spun around and saw a ghost standing behind her. "GYAAAH!" screamed the blonde in fear. 'Wait a minute…I'm at Hogwarts. Ghosts are normal' remembered the female. "Sorry for screaming at you. I'm a bit lost and you surprised me" told the Ravenclaw. Her mind tried to remember the name of the ghost who now had a thoughtful look at his face. The only thing she knew was that it was not Peeves or the ghost from Gryffindor or Slytherin. "Try to go down that set of stairs over there before you go up the ones next to the medieval monk painting. That should help you out" advised the ghost as he pointed out the stairs. "Thanks. Have a nice evening!" replied the girl with a smile. She then jogged towards the set of stairs that were right ahead of her. The stairs did not move, so Annie went straight towards the ones next to the medieval monks. 'Thank Merlin that the ghost was there to help me out. Wonder what I would have to do if not' thought the female. Most of the professors would not be happy to show seventh-year students to their rooms at this hour. 'Wait a second…I'm almost 18 now! I could just use a spell or some transfiguration stuff that would make me fly or able to jump really far!' remembered the ash-blonde girl while doing a mental face palm. She then looked up and realized that the stairs had stopped moving. The girl went further into the hallway before she reached the eagle door knocker. She positioned herself straight in front of it while preparing her mind for the riddle. "What travels around the world but stays in a corner?" inquired the bird. The Ravenclaw closed her eyes while she tried to think of an answer. "Time?" guessed the female. "No" replied the door knocker. Annie tried to think of a possible answer for this one. 'Hm…travels the world but stays in a corner. Wait a minute' thought the female. "Can it be a stamp?" suggested the girl. "Correct" told the knocker as it opened up the door. The girl went inside and headed straight for her bed to get some rest.


	3. Chapter 3: A chilly Quidditch match!

Time for an update I suppose. I know some of my readers are going back to school quite soon. Enjoy your last days of the summer holiday!

The Slytherin team as well as the students there are often portrayed as bad people in some fanfictions. I decided to make the Slytherin Quidditch team a bit nicer, but still having a competitive edge. This is the first time I'm writing a Quidditch game, so I hope it's not too bad!

Some of the Quidditch players have surnames suggesting their non-English ancestry. Can you guess what country they may be from?

* * *

**A chilly Quidditch match!**

'Merlin…what time is it?' wondered the male as he opened his eyes. He then glanced at the wrist watch that laid at the nightstand. 'Only 07:30 huh? Better get up then so I can start on my homework' thought Remus as he got up from his bed. One thing he hated about being a werewolf was that it made him unable to do homework for at least one day. This meant that the guy had to do some extra work during the weekends or holidays. Good thing that his average was around Exceed Expectations or he would be in more trouble. He picked up the parchment where he had started on the herbology essay plus his defense against the dark arts book. 'Oh. I almost forgot that Lily was going to meet me for the charm practice' remembered the male brunette. He picked up his charms notebook as well before he put all the books in his backpacker. The male then put on a rather comfortable set of clothes that consisted of brown sneakers, socks, a pair of jeans that were not too tight or too loose, a white T-shirt plus a warm-beige polo sweater. He then closed the door as silent as possible so he did not wake up the others. Sirius in particular was a bit grumpy if someone woke him up before 9 AM on a weekend day or during the holidays. The male went down the staircase to the Great Hall, wondering if there was anyone there this early in the morning. It appeared that a good number of students were already there. Some of them were fifth year students studying for their OWL's while others were third or fourth year pupils cramming for the upcoming astronomy exam. This exam was usually held right after the first full moon in November to ensure that the students got enough sleep for the other exams.

He spotted a place near the middle of the Gryffindor table and sat down. Remus found it a bit ironic that a calm person like himself was transformed into a howling beast once a month. 'I wonder if I'll ever make other friends before I leave Hogwarts next year or afterwards' pondered the guy. The students in his year were nice enough, but there were some who he did not consider as 'friend material'. A number of the Slytherins were obvious since some of them supported Voldemort. The Hufflepuffs were nice enough; one of the guys had given him a hand during one of the potion lessons last month. As for the Ravenclaws…they were a bit of both. Some of the girls were a bit of a gossip while a couple of the guys had a snobby attitude. But a couple of them were quite calm plus that they had an interest for school. Which was an interest some of his fellow Gryffindors could probably benefit from having. "Good morning Remus" said a female voice from behind. He turned around and saw Lily stand right behind with a big smile. She was wearing a green sweater plus a brown skirt that ended two inches above her knees. Her legs were covered in tanned tights while a pair of sneakers with a flower design was on her feet.

"Morning Lily. Please sit down" told the guy with a smile. "No thanks…I just finished my breakfast. I'm on my way to the library. Are you ready for our charms practice?" inquired the female. "Yeah; I just need to get some food down" replied the Gryffindor while he pointed at his two slices of toast. "Great! I'll see you there then" replied the redhead with a smile. She then left the Great Hall while the male finished his meal. The toast with egg on perked him up a bit and he finished the bread in no time. 'Hm. I need some sugar' thought the male as he went through his backpacker. He then found his small box with chocolate biscuits that he had bought during the last Hogsmeade weekend. Remus ate one of the biscuits as he read through some of the news in the Daily Prophet. It was a bit depressing since Voldemort was still on the move. Good thing that they were safe inside this castle…for the moment at least. He laid the paper down before he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl. 'Better be safe than sorry' thought the guy as he picked up his backpacker. The plan for today was to practice on the charms with his partner and then move on to the potions homework. Saturday was usually an all right day to catch up with school work. He went up to the library and passed by a couple of students on his way up there. Cobalt blue eyes glanced around in the library for the girl that would be his practice partner. A part of him felt quite lucky to have the Gryffindor female as his workmate. Not only was she a gifted witch, but she was a really kind person too. She did not mind to help out first year students who were lost or help out others with their homework. 'Ah. There she is' thought the teen when he saw her sitting next to one of the bookshelves. He approached her as silent as possible before sitting down across the table.

"Hello Remus. I brought two glasses with me from the Great Hall. Don't worry, I promised the house elves that I would return it" assured the girl before she picked up two small tea cups from her backpacker. "Good. I think we should try to fill the quarter of the glass and then freeze it. Does that sound good to you?" inquired the male. "Yeah. Just give me a moment so I can find my wand" replied Lily. After they had found their wands, it was time to start their practice session. 'Focus now Remus…' thought the male brunette as he saw the water fill the white tea cup. Precision was the key for a charm combination like this. The water started to reach the mark and he decided to stop. It was time to freeze the amount of liquid that was in the glass.

'Glacia!' thought the male as he looked at the blank water. He tried to maintain his focus while his water started to freeze. The water did not freeze completely, but the bottom had at least frozen to solid ice. "I think we have to make sure to not exhaust our brains on this" told the female with a small smile at her face. The Gryffindor looked into her tea cup to see how she had fared so far. Her result was pretty much the same as his apart from that the water was more frozen at the top. "At least we're both able to freeze the water to a certain degree. I think you were right about keeping the concentration even since we got two tasks. But you're not doing that bad Lily" stated the guy with a skinny smile at his face. "Thanks Remus. Perhaps you should become a teacher one day" suggested the redhead with a sincere look at her face. He let out a small sigh. "Maybe…I do like working with people. But I don't think someone would hire a person with a furry little problem" muttered Remus with a wry smile at his face. A part of him hoped that he could find a half-decent job after Hogwarts. His condition however meant that his chances were pretty much sliced down to a fraction. Money was not too much of an issue for him as long as he had a decent place to live plus food at the table. Hopefully, he could get a job that was at the countryside or close to a forest. That would make it easier when the full moon came around. Being a werewolf was not easy if you lived in the dead middle of Manchester for example.

"Don't be so upset Remus. Your problem is only for a day or two, right?" asked the girl. He nodded. "That means that you're acting like your normal self at least 27 days a month. And your normal self is a guy who is a good person. Or at least I think so" told the female Gryffindor with an honest voice. The male swallowed a small lump in his throat. It was the first time a female (who was not related to him) had said something like that. "Thanks Lily. That means a lot. Especially coming from a girl – or woman" said the male brunette. "Hey…I'm sure you'll get a female friend someday. Most of the girls seem to be comfortable around you. Except some of the Slytherin girls since you're friends with one who sent them stinky Valentine cards" laughed the female. "I agree. Let's continue with our charms work" replied the male with a smile at his face.

* * *

'Right. Keep calm now Mattie' thought the female as she lined up with the Hufflepuff team near the entrance. She tightened the grip of her bat as well as her broom while she bit her lower lip. Her ears caught the excited yells of the audience while a small gust of cold wind made its way through the air. "All right everyone. Let's do our best and give Slytherin a run for their money. They're NOT going to get this victory easily" told the captain. "YEAH!" replied the rest of the team. The sound of a loud flute cut through the air and the team mounted their brooms. "WELCOME TO TODAY'S MATCH! THE OPPONENTS IN THIS MATCH ARE SLYTHERIN VERSUS HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the commentator. Mathilda flied up next to the other beater at the team. "THE PLAYERS AT THE SLYTHERIN TEAM ARE JOSHUA AVERY, GERALD FLINT, LINDA HARDY, JAY KHATRI, ERIC MCLACHLAN, MARIA PAYTON AND PATRICK WILSON! ON HUFFLEPUFF ARE JOHN BRYSON, MATHILDA ELLIOT, CHARLES FAULKNER, SARAH O'REILLY, OLIVER SMITH, RAYMOND YOUNGER AND CONNIE ZHANG!" announced the commentator.

Everyone cheered as the players flied out on the field; there were quite a number of people at the pitch. Silver clouds covered the sky while a layer of frost covered the ground below. The girl could feel her heart beat a bit faster while her cheeks turned a bit flushed. It was inevitable since Quidditch matches made her adrenaline increase. This was good since the weather was a bit chilly today...the circulation would keep her warm. The Hufflepuff players lined up and she positioned herself next to the other beater at the team named Raymond. She looked at the players from the Slytherin team. Gerald, Eric as well as Patrick were all quite big. It would not surprise the Hufflepuff if one or two of them were part troll or giant. The rest of the team was average-sized apart from petite Maria. But that was an advantage since she was the seeker at their team.

"Shake hands captains" told the referee. Charles shook hands with Patrick; both of them had an eager look at their faces. The male on the ground then went towards the chest where the balls were located. "Ready…GO!" yelled the referee after he had opened the box. Everyone spread out immediately. Charles paired up with Sarah as well as Oliver in order to get the hands on the quaffle. John flied towards the goal as fast as possible while the female raced towards the middle of the pitch with her bat ready. Connie on the other hand was busy with her search for the snitch.

"Looks like Slytherin is off to a good start. Khatri has gotten his hands on the quaffle and I think he's attempting to pass it" informed the commentator. 'But WHO will he pass it to!?' thought the female as she looked around at the pitch. She then noticed Linda, who was on her way towards his right side. "Over here Ray!" yelled Mathilda once she saw him twenty meters away. He nodded before he hit the bludger with his bat.

The girl tightened the grip on her bat as she tried to get an aim at her female opponent. She backed off a little as the bludger approached her and prepared her arm for a slam. Once the bludger was within reach, the teen hit the bludger downwards in a hammer-fist motion. The black ball went straight towards the Slytherin female. Her dark blue eyes widened before she pulled her broom handle to the left.

"Yatta!" cheered the Hufflepuff when Jay missed his pass. "Ooooh, looks like the game has turned! Jay unfortunately lost the quaffle and Hufflepuff is attempting to turn the tables" continued the commentator. "Keep an eye at Patrick Mattie! I don't think he's up to any good!" yelled Raymond. She nodded as she flied a bit further up in the air. Her eyes looked for the bludger that she had hit earlier. 'Where can it-'. Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Patrick chasing the bludger towards the other end. The female zoomed past one of the Slytherin chasers in an attempt to get even with him. He already had a head start, but he was a lot bigger than she was. The teen then saw him catch up with the bludger. Her eyes looked down…who was he attempting to hit? 'OH NO' thought the girl when she saw that Sarah was well within his range. There was only one thing she could do; the bludger had to be diverted. If not, the other female would end up with a bludger-sized bruise in her shoulder. She flied a bit lower while she tightened her grip on her bat. The guy above her was by no means a weakling since she had seen him shoot bludgers quite far away. Mathilda saw him shoot the bludger towards the chaser and flied a bit further downwards. "RYAAAH!" shouted the girl as she attempted to slam the bludger. But her arm was not long enough. Patrick managed to hit the bludger a couple seconds later. "Watch out for the bludger behind you Sarah!" yelled Connie, who was only ten yards behind her. The chaser swung around on her broom and got a semi-nasty hit in her side. The Slytherin beater sneered while the Hufflepuff beater flied closer to her teammate.

"Are you OK?" inquired the female. "I think I stretched something. I'll ask for someone to ice my back during the break" assured her teammate. Mathilda took off when the other chasers started to get in their direction. It appeared that Oliver was attempting to steal the quaffle from one of the Slytherin chasers. Cobalt blue eyes darted around to see where the bludger or one of the beaters was. She then spotted Raymond as well as Gerald at the west side of the pitch. The former of the two did a quick dive downwards with the latter in his heels. The second bludger was whizzing around ten feet below them. Raymond pressed his broom handle downwards while his right hand held onto the bat. He then stretched out his hand and slammed into the bludger with a swooping motion. The black ball then shot straight towards one of the male Slytherin chasers who had the quaffle. But that did not last for long. "WATCH OUT JOSHUA!" yelled Linda. He managed to do a side dive, but lost the grip on the quaffle due to the speed. Oliver saw the chance and picked it up right afterwards. He then flied towards the Slytherin goal with Charles behind him. Eric tried to keep an eye at the quaffle as the guy approached him. The Hufflepuff chaser flied a bit higher, dived down to the side and threw the quaffle towards the goal. Eric tried to keep up, but he was two seconds too late to block. "AND SMITH MAKES THE FIRST GOAL IN TODAY'S MATCH! 10 POINTS FOR HUFFLEPUFF!" yelled the commentator as the Hufflepuff crowd below cheered.

A grin formed at the face of the Hufflepuff beater as she flied towards the middle of the pitch with her bat ready. "Hardy has taken the quaffle and is on her way towards the Hufflepuff goal post" told the commentator. She looked up and saw that both of the Slytherin beaters were flying towards the left part of the pitch. Her eyes then spotted one of the bludgers whizz past their small seeker. Both of her hands tightened the grip at the broom as she shifted her direction towards the left. 'I CAN'T let Slytherin mess up this match! We lost against Gryffindor just five weeks ago' thought the girl as she bent her torso a bit. Her red blonde hair was tied back and moved like a tail in the wind. She glanced around her to make sure that nobody was blocking her way. Unfortunately, Gerald had managed to get on her left side by now. He then bumped into her a couple seconds later with a grin on her face. "Auch!" hissed Mathilda as she tried to regain her balance. Her left shoulder hurt after the impact and she decided to get even with him later on. The female flied upwards and saw Raymond trying to get to the second bludger above them. 'Take aim…THERE!' thought the Hufflepuff when she saw him hit the bludger just barely. The bludger flied straight up towards the male Slytherin chaser named Joshua. He was busy watching Linda trying to outbeat Charles at the other side. Just three seconds later, the bludger had hit him straight in the left foot. "AAARGH!" yelled the guy when the black ball had made contact. "YE-". Her cheering was interrupted when something hit her in the eyes. "AAAAAIGH!" exclaimed the girl as she tried to rub it away. It was something small that was quite cold. She then looked up at the sky. Her eyes widened in surprise; it had started to SNOW! 'Well…it is November after all' thought Mathilda. She then straightened herself up to see Linda flying straight towards their goal. "HARDY GETS THE QUAFFLE RIGHT INTO THE GOAL! 10 POINTS TO SLYTHERIN" shouted the commentator. A flute then sounded near the tribune…it was time for a break.

* * *

Right...I will reveal the countries that the players were from.

Hufflepuff: Elliot is a Scottish surname, O'Reilly has Irish roots while Zhang is a common surname in China. Kind of ironic that the Hufflepuff house has yellow and brown/black (no racism intended).

Slytherin: McLachlan is the name of a Scottish clan while Khatri is an Indian name. Avery and Flint are the surnames of two people in the Harry Potter books, both of them Slytherins.


	4. Chapter 4: King Winter arrives

Sorry for the wait! I left you with a bit of a cliff hanger there. I suppose we can continue with our story now :D

* * *

**King Winter arrives.**

Alice smiled as she jogged towards the Quidditch pitch. She had promised her friend to at least watch the second half of the match. The reason why the female had been unable to get to the first was the divination homework, which had to be done during sunrise. 'Good thing that it is winter or else I would have to get up ridiculously early' thought the teen. She then reached the pitch and tried to find the team. Her eyes beamed when she noticed that the whole team was sitting in the small shed at the tribune. "Goldie! What's the score so far?" called the girl as she approached them. Her friend looked up, smiling when she saw her friend. "We have a goal each so far. Slytherin knocked in one just before the break" informed the older female.

"How's the snitch hunt going Connie?" asked Charles as he looked at the younger female. "Not so bad, but it will be harder now as the snow is here" replied Connie with an apologizing look. "Eh, I'm sure it'll work out. Let's get back on the pitch now. You're all doing great so far" told the male with a grin. "Do you best Goldie. I'll be watching from the Ravenclaw stand" told the teen. "Thanks" said the Hufflepuff with a thankful smile. Her friend then left them before it was time for the second half of the match. 'I hope Connie or Maria catches the snitch soon…it's getting cold out here' thought the girl as she entered the pitch with her team.

'Good luck guys' thought Annie as she saw the match start. It did not started out pretty well since the Slytherin chaser named Khatri managed to score another goal just after twenty minutes with quite intense action. She crossed her fingers that one of the seekers at one of the teams would catch the snitch soon…it would not get any warmer today. The female hoped that Hufflepuff would win since Ravenclaw had lost against them earlier this season. 'Maybe we'll have a chance in the match against Gryffindor' hoped the teen as she saw Mathilda fly above the towers. It looked like she hit a bludger since two of the Slytherin players had to do a sharp U-turn with their brooms.

One of the Hufflepuff chasers managed to get a hold of the quaffle, but missed at the goal. 'Dangit' thought the girl as she knitted her brows as well as balling her hands into fists. Hufflepuff was doing their best to prevent them for scoring any further goals and managed to keep them at bay. Suddenly, something happened half an hour after Hufflepuff had missed their goal. "OH MERLIN! IT LOOKS LIKE ZHANG AND PAYTON ARE FIGHTING TO GET THE SNITCH!" yelled the commentator. The Ravenclaw turned her head around a bit to see where the two seekers were. Both of them were flying towards the part of the pitch where she stood! They were neck to neck with a determined look at their faces.

'Come on, come on, come on!' thought the female as the duo did a turn. It felt like the time was going in slow motion when both of the girls stretched out their hand. Ice blue eyes saw that the Hufflepuff seeker was just a couple of inches away from the snitch…she could not miss! Her small hand then did a small twist before it closed around something. "I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" screamed the girl as she waved her hand. The audience went silent while the referee flied up to check. After he had given the thumbs up to Connie, the audience exploded in a chorus of cheering. "ZHANG CAUGHT THE SNITCH! HUFFLEPUFF WINS THE MATCH JUST BY A COUPLE OF INCHES!" yelled the commentator. The Hufflepuff team was shouting in joy while the Slytherin team looked a bit annoyed. Particularly the seeker since she was just inches away from catching the snitch. "WOHOOO!" yelled the ash blonde girl while she clapped her hands. She wondered how her friend felt it right now.

"YES! WE DID IT!" shouted Mathilda as she flied towards the pitch with her team. Connie was in tears of joy while the rest of the Quidditch team was grinning. The rest of the Slytherin team landed a minute later. "Shake your hands" told the referee. "Great job Gerald; you gave me a hard time out there" told the female as she shook hands with him. "You too" replied the beater as he shook his hands. Despite that the Slytherin team was a bit violent at the pitch, they were not that sour over the match. The Hufflepuff suspected it was because they had scored the most goals plus that their seeker had not lost by a large margin. Both teams then went towards their respective wardrobes.

"GREAT job everyone! We gave Slytherin a run for their galleons today" told Charles with a huge smile. "Thanks" replied all of the players with a grin at their faces. "Let's take a shower. I know many of you are probably having essays or schoolwork this weekend, so we'll celebrate at 7 PM at the Common room. Which will give you about five hours to do your work. Does this sound OK?" inquired the male. Everybody nodded. "Great! Let's do the team cheer!" told the captain. "ONE, TWO, THREE, HUFFLEPUFF!" yelled the team before they split up. "Awesome job you did there Connie! I must say you had quite a bit of luck today. Are you sure you did not drink any Felixir prior to our match?" inquired Sarah as they went into the girls locker room. "Hm…that could have explained why my black tea had shimmers of gold in it" replied the girl. Her teammates looked at her in disbelief. "Just kidding! I did not. But I just followed after Maria for a while and saw the snitch just moments earlier than her" told the seeker. "Well, this proves that moments can decide the outcome. I just have to hurry up with the shower. I have to practice my charms today with Silv – I mean Annie" informed the older female. The other two nodded as they entered the shower. 'Aaaaah. This is nice' thought the Hufflepuff as the warm water went down her back. Her body was getting its warmth back after the match, but she had to hurry a little. She washed her hair as well as her body before she dried herself with a huge golden yellow towel. The girl then brushed out the knots in her hear after putting on her clothes. "Bye girls! See you at the party tonight!" said Mathilda when she left the locker room. Her next stop would be the library to practice her charms with Annie.

* * *

Grass green eyes narrowed in concentration as the owner tried to fill up the tea cup with water. 'Concentrate now Lily' thought the female as she held her wand steady. She would only fill up to the supposed 1/3 mark on the small cup. 'Just a little more' thought Lily as the water started to reach the bottom third of the cup. Once the water reached the 1/3 mark, she removed it in a slow motion. The female did not want to knock over the cup or spill water on the table. "Let me have a look at it please" muttered the male. He then looked into the cup to see how full it was. Remus nodded before the Gryffindor pointed the wand towards the water once more. She narrowed her bright green eyes while she tried to say the charm inside her head. 'Glacia' thought the girl as she attempted to freeze the water inside the tea cup. The guy opposite to her noticed that the water started to solidify in the cup. It was a good sign since the spell had started to work.

"I don't think I can keep my concentration for longer Remus" admitted the redhead as she lowered her want two minutes later. She was a bit tired now plus that she had a mild head ache. "I think you did fairly well. Look" told the male Gryffindor as he pointed at the cup. She looked inside it. Most of the water had frozen solid, but there were a few small cracks. "I almost did it" muttered the female with a tired smile at her face. A part of her rejoiced; all the practicing had made a decent progress. "You did. I suppose I can give this one more chance before we call it a day" said the male. He then held his wand over the tea cup while he tried to formulate the spell inside his head. 'Steady now…' thought Remus as he saw the water emerge. He knitted his auburn eyebrows as he tried to focus on his task. A part of him wanted his result to be the same as his partners or not too far away. Blue eyes glanced inside the cup to see how far the water had gotten. 'Merlin, I better stop now' decided the guy when he saw that the water had nearly reached the mark. It was then time for part two. He took a deep breath while he raised his wand a little bit. 'Glacia, glacia' repeated the Gryffindor while he tried to imagine the water inside the cup freeze to ice. The male then looked at the cup; he could see that chunks of ice had started to form. 'Just a little more' thought the male brunette as he inhaled some oxygen. He was able to hold his concentration for a minute or so until his brain was unable to keep going.

"How did I do?" inquired the male as he looked over at Lily. "You did quite well actually. Look at this" replied the girl with a smile. She then handed him the now freezing cold cup. His eyes widened when he saw how he had done it. Pretty much all of the water had frozen to ice. The ice had somewhat wider cracks compared to the ice in the other glass though. "Whoa…that's not bad. Thanks for the help Lily. I really appreciate it" said Remus with a smile at his face. "You're welcome. Oh, I almost forgot that I have to write a birthday card for my father. Are you going back to the tower too?" inquired the Gryffindor. "Hm? No, I'm going to finish up on my potion essay. I'm almost done now" told the guy as he put his wand back in his backpacker. "See you later then" told the female before she left him. He waved his hand good bye while she walked out of the quiet room.

* * *

Excited voices could be heard when Lily reached the main staircase. She had forgotten that there was going to be a Quidditch match today. 'I am quite sure that the match must have been Slytherin up against Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. I watched Gryffindor play against Hufflepuff for about a month ago' remembered the girl. She had decided to support her house by watching the match against Hufflepuff. Her house had won after a somewhat exciting match, but James had been a bit more unbearable than usual because of that. He WAS after all the seeker at the team who had caught the snitch after just two hours of play.

"AI!" exclaimed the redhead after she bumped into someone and felt over. A pair of arms grabbed her just moments later. She looked up to see who her rescuer was. It turned out to be the male she had just thought about. "James!? What are you doing here?" inquired the female as she raised her eyebrows. "I'm trying to find some mice that I can feed to Mrs. Norris. Just kidding…I was on my way back to the library to hand in a book I had used for my herbology essay" told James as he pulled her back up at her feet. The other Gryffindor felt a bit flushed for some reason. Come to think of it, this was the most intimate contact she has had with a guy since starting school this year. Not to mention that he had quite warm hands. "Sorry, can you repeat what you said? I didn't catch it" admitted the girl. "I was on my way back to the library to hand in a book I had used for my herbology essay" repeated the guy. "Really? But it's not due until Friday and today is Saturday" informed Lily with a surprised look at her face. A part of her was surprised since her fellow Gryffindor was the type who started working on his essay two-three days before the due date. "Well, I have charms lessons as well. I figured out it would be better if I did at least half of the essay this weekend. Gives me more time to practice on my charm lesson" said the male. A part of her was slightly amazed; it almost sounded like he had matured a bit. But having Sirius moving into his house last summer had probably been an important part of that. Not to mention that he was 17 now…he was actually an adult by wizard standards now.

"I see. Did you watch the Quidditch match today?" inquired the female. A grin formed at his face. "Yeah, sure did! Hufflepuff won against Slytherin just barely! Both of their seekers were literally side by side when the Hufflepuff one caught the snitch!" told James with a huge smile. "Sounds like an exciting match. I have to go now I'm afraid…I guess I see you later" replied the redhead. "Bye then Evans" told the guy with a suspicious friendly smile before he went off to the library. She shook her head while she walked back to the Gryffindor tower to continue on her homework. It was a bit more crowded than usual due to the Quidditch match; Gryffindor was probably the house that enjoyed the sport the most. Slytherin came second while the remaining two were moderately interested. The girl found herself squished between two sixth-year students on her way up to the tower.

Her nose caught the smell of a perfume or after shave. 'It's a bit similar to the one James uses – wait a minute. When did I notice what kind of perfume he uses?' thought Lily in disbelief. A part of her thought that it was not so weird. Many of the guys in her family (including her cousins close to her age) had used the same perfume or after shave for years. That was probably the reason for this. 'Are you kidding yourself Lily? Maybe you're falling for him' told another part of her brain. She shook her head. Why would she fall for James Potter? He was so cocky and he was a bit irresponsible. Or…was he? The fact that the guy had actually started to PLAN his homework plus not pulling so many pranks on people anymore was the opposite of that. 'Maybe he's starting to mature a bit. I'll see how things turn out' decided the female.

She then went on the next set of stairs that would take her to the Gryffindor common room. Once it stopped, a fourth year student walked ahead of her to give the password. "Password young man?" inquired the fat lady. "Fortuna major" replied the younger boy; his voice cracked at the latter word. "Correct. Maybe you should get something for your throat" said the lady before the painting moved to the side. The older Gryffindor jogged into the common room. It was warm due to the fire on the fireplace while the air smelled a bit like oranges. There were plenty of people there since they had just came back from the Quidditch match. 'I better get up to my room so I can write that card' decided the redhead. She then headed for the stairs to the dorm rooms, but almost crashed into one of the sixth year prefects David Wright. "Sorry for bumping into you Lily!" apologized the guy with a semi-embarrassed look at his face. He was probably blushing, but his dark skin hid that quite well. "I'm fine David" replied the girl with a small smile. She was a bit puzzled though; David was usually not that stressed unless it was something serious. "Good to hear. Oh…while you're here…our muggle studies professor asked me to give you this since you were absent at Thursday. I couldn't give it to you yesterday since I had to finish some homework" apologized the guy. He rummaged around in his bag before he handed her a piece of royal purple parchment. It made her a bit curious since it did not look like the 'head girl papers' she usually got from McGonagall. "Thanks David. Have a nice Saturday" replied Lily with a smile. "You too Lily" said the male with a smile. He stepped aside and went down to the common room.

'Wonder what this is' thought the female as she walked up to her room. She decided to read it now in case it was something important. Her hands unrolled the parchment and read the small piece of text on it. 'Hogwarts is going to have a dual-event weekend at November 26th! Event number one is duel lessons with professor Flitwick as well as the former English duelist Harvey Frost. This lesson will cover basic duel tactics, efficient spells plus practicing matches. The second event is dance lessons in swing with professor McGonagall. If you want to participate, please inform professor Flitwick or professor McGonagall before November 16th. Both lessons will find place in the Great hall. The duel lesson starts at 11:00 AM and ends at 2:00 PM including a thirty minute lunch break. Lesson two starts at 5:00 PM and ends at 7:00 PM. NB: The dress code for the dance is semi-formal. Best regards, professor Flitwick and professor McGonagall'.

The redhead smiled after reading that. It was not very often Hogwarts arranged events like these unless something was changing. She suspected the reason behind the duel lesson was that Voldemort was on the loose. Just the last couple of weeks, at least twenty people had disappeared in a mysterious way. Not to mention that many wizards had been found injured or killed after a run-in with the Death Eaters. 'I think I'll sign up for this. I'm not sure if I'll be able to defend my family with it though' decided the girl as she made a small note in her calendar. She then saw the small note and raised her eyebrows. 'Merlin…I almost forgot why I was here! I better write that card to dad' remembered the Gryffindor. The female then looked into her trunk to find the card she had bought for her father last Hogsmeade weekend.

* * *

There! I decided to introduce a small twist of some sort since this is a JamesxLily story. Please read and review ^_^


	5. Chapter 5: Vengeance is best served cold

Hello everyone!

Autumn has arrived and it's not long until Halloween! I bet some of you have already started to think about what costume you're going to wear or snacks you're looking forward to. Maybe some of you are even making your own snacks this year?

This chapter will have more focus on Remus compared to the third and fourth chapter. I know a number of you will appreciate this :D

* * *

**Vengeance is best when served cold.**

It was Wednesday morning in the Gryffindor tower. "Wake up James!" called Remus as he tried to shake his friend awake. The clock was 07:45 AM and the breakfast had already started. "Huuuh? What is it Moony?" inquired the other guy with a sleepy voice. His hair looked like a crow's nest while his hazel eyes were glazed with tiredness. "It's almost 8 AM. It's time for breakfast Prongs" informed the male. James nodded while his friend headed off to the bathroom. 'Hm…I need to shave' thought the auburn-haired guy. Good thing that he had taken a shower last night in order to save time for today. He picked up the magical razor his cousin had given him for his birthday as well as some shaving cream.

Both of his hands put on the shaving cream while the razor floated next to his face. "Right…it's all yours" muttered the guy before he tapped the razor with his wand. The razor flied over to his face while the owner lowered his eyelids a little bit. This was one of the things he loved about being a wizard. Magic razors rarely cut your skin and were more precise than the muggle razors. He decided to open up his eyes a couple minutes later to check how the blade was doing. His razor was floating next to him while the skin on his face had no stubbles left. "Perfect. Good job" stated the Gryffindor when he tapped the razor again. The razor flied back to his toiletry map and the male continued with washing his face. "Morning Moony" yawned Sirius as he walked into the bathroom. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" asked the male as he took out his facial washer. "Yeah, I slept quite well. Have you made up your mind about that dual-event weekend in the end of the month?" inquired the other male. "Well…I found out that its right after a full moon. I'll go if I'm in good enough condition for that" informed Remus with a small smile.

He was however a bit concerned. The dance part meant that he probably had to find himself a partner prior to the event. He was slightly worried about that since he had never had a girlfriend (apart from in kindergarten perhaps) or been on a real date. The guy was interested in girls, but was not as lucky as James or Sirius. 'Don't be so pessimistic. I'm sure that I'll find a date somehow' thought the auburn-haired male while rinsing his face. He then put on some aftershave cream before he went out to see if his friends were awake. A smile formed at his face when he saw that James was putting on his shirt while Peter had started to knit his tie. "Good to see that you're ready. I'm going down to the Great Hall in a moment" told the male as he walked over to his school bag. Blue eyes scanned the timetable that lay at the top. 'I've got charms, transfiguration plus defense against the dark arts prior to the lunch break. I then have potions, a free period as well as studies of ancient runes' thought the Gryffindor. He double-checked his books just to be sure before heading down to the Great Hall. The large hall was quite packed since it was in the middle of breakfast. A familiar smell of toast mixed with tea filled his nostrils and his body suddenly felt a bit more awake.

Remus spotted a place next to an African-looking teenager who was currently discussing something with a male brunette. He weaved through the crowd before he approached the teen. "Is this seat taken?" inquired the guy. The fellow Gryffindor turned towards him. "No…I don't think so" replied the male. The auburn-haired teen nodded before he sat down at the chair. He felt a bit hungry, so he decided to go for an egg plus two slices of toast first. 'Perhaps I should try a banana today' thought the male as he stretched his hand towards the fruit bowl. "Hello there!" greeted Sir Nicholas as his head popped out of the fruit bowl. The Gryffindor jumped in surprise while his hand dropped the banana. "Jeez. You scared me there" muttered the guy as he patted his chest a little. "Sorry 'bout that! Enjoy your breakfast young man" replied the ghost with a grin at his face. Sir Nicholas then flied towards one of the other ghosts that were at the other side of the hall.

Remus picked up the banana and laid it in his backpacker. He was about to start on his toast when the rest of his friends appeared. A small snort of laughter escaped his mouth when he saw how they looked like. James had not managed to tame his hair that much while Sirius' tie was a bit lopsided. Peter however had forgotten to tie his shoes. "I think you guys have to look at yourself in the mirror before we go to class. Especially since we got McGonagall later today" told the male with a small smile.

"Ha ha Moony. I could not find my comb and Sirius told me that he would correct his tie after we have eaten" told the bespectacled male as he sat down to eat. The auburn-haired guy nodded while he finished the rest of his toast. He decided to wait for his friends who were now chewing at their food. 'I wonder where Lil – oh' thought the male when he spotted the female he thought about on the other side of the hall. She appeared to have just finished her meal since she was on her way towards the charms room.

"Excuse me…you're Sirius Black right?" inquired a voice from behind. Sirius turned around to see who the owner of the voice was. It was a blonde girl on the same age as himself. She was in Ravenclaw judging from the blue and black stripes at her tie. "Yaf" replied the guy with his mouth full of toast. "Your tie is kind of lopsided. I wondered if I could test a charm that's supposed to make your tie stick to where it should be" replied the female. He nodded and the Ravenclaw smiled. "Just sit still there" muttered the blonde as she pointed her wand at his tie. Grey eyes saw the tie swing a bit to the right before it straightened itself. "Thanks" told Sirius with a smile. She gave him a quick smile as she left the Great Hall.

* * *

"Did it work Silver?" inquired her friend when they were on their way to charms. "Mhm. He won't notice it until he's going to remove his tie later today. That glue spell was GENIUS!" chuckled Annie with a grin at her face. A part of her knew it was wrong, but Sirius HAD after all slimed her brother without apologizing. Not to mention that they would probably practice on spells after they had showed their work for professor Flitwick. And who in their right mind would suspect a semi-innocent blonde who had not gotten a detention in almost two years?

The duo entered the library soon afterwards in order to hand in some books they had used in divination. "I can't wait for tarot lessons" muttered Mathilda as they entered the library. "Me neither, but I bet we get some kind of 'predict the future for ten random people' or something like that for homework" replied the girl while she rolled her ice blue eyes. She did not hate their professor since he was a true Seer who could actually predict things that would happen. But he had a tendency of giving them homework where they had to read other people's palms or similar things. This was usually solved when the students grouping up in groups of three or four and try this on each other. However, it was a limit on how much they could predict each other's future without getting bored. The Ravenclaw then approached the counter before she put down her school bag. "Hello. I'm here to hand in 'Zodiac calculations and interpretations' by Dana Chavez" whispered the blonde. "All right. Name please?" inquired the librarian. "Henderson, Annie. I'm from Ravenclaw" replied the girl as she picked up the book from her bag. The woman nodded before the student laid the book at the counter. "Good…you handed it in a week early. Have a nice day" said the librarian. "You too" answered the teen as she zipped up her bag. She then went out of the library before heading for her first lesson of today, which were charms with professor Flitwick.

Many of the students were a bit anxious since they were going to showcase their skills in charms today. Not to mention that these spells were quite basic and required a bit of accuracy. "Do you think we have to do them non-verbally?" inquired Sirius as he sat down behind James. "I think professor Flitwick want us to perform AT LEAST one of those spells without saying them. They are quite basic after all, but we can't lose our concentration either" replied the male as he adjusted his glasses. A part of him felt a bit nervous because he had just started to get a grip on non-verbal magic. What if he lost focus and he froze something or someone else in the room? 'Calm down James. Think of something that makes the nerves go away or make you more confident' thought the Gryffindor. His thoughts wandered to the middle of his fifth year when he had mastered to transform himself into an animal. Not to mention last year when his friends had made the Marauder's map.

The guy felt his nerves die down a little bit. It turned out to be just in time since professor Flitwick climbed up on the teacher's desk a couple moments later. "Good morning students! I hope you have all slept well so you're ready for the test today" greeted the man with a smile. Some murmur was heard through the room and the atmosphere was a bit tense. "I am going to give you five minutes to prepare yourselves. We will go alphabetically and the first couple is Abrams and Black" told the teacher.

"Good luck" whispered the bespectacled male as he patted his friend on his shoulder. The black-haired guy nodded while his partner checked his notebook. "Please come up guys. Don't be scared, I'm sure you can do it" encouraged the male. He stepped aside and the two students stepped up. Two egg glasses were placed on the teacher's desk. Both of the guys pointed at the egg glass with a concentrated look at their faces. 'Looks like they're going non-verbal with this one' thought James as he observed on how his friend was doing. The Gryffindor in the pair then tapped the egg glass with his wand and muttered the spell. His partner did the same just moments later. Flitwick then stepped forwards and looked into both of the egg glasses. "Very well done both of you. I'll give you this grade" told the man while pointing at a sheet in his hand. Both of the guys grinned with satisfaction and walked back down. "What did you get?" asked the black-haired guy. "An E" replied the male with a great smile at his face. Two other pairs were then called up to show how well they had worked. One of the pairs overflowed their glasses a bit, but managed to freeze it quite fast. Pair number two however was not able to freeze the water completely.

"Elliot and Henderson, please come up here" called the teacher. Two girls then walked towards the desk with a slightly nervous look at their faces. Sirius recognized one of them; it was the blonde girl who had corrected his tie that morning. He was also quite sure that he had seen the second girl at the Hufflepuff quidditch team. "Please go ahead" told the older man as he gestured towards the egg glasses. Both of the girls then pointed their wands at the egg glasses with a concentrated look in their eyes. The Ravenclaw female closed her eyes for a second before she tapped the egg glass one more time with her wand. Her red-blonde haired friend did the same just seconds later. Flitwick then came over to inspect the egg glasses. "Impressive. I'll give you this grade Henderson while Elliot gets this one" told the male while he gestured towards the paper he held. Both of the girls let out a small squeal in joy before they sat down at their respective places.

'I wonder what they got' thought Lily as she saw the duo sit down. "Next couple up is Evans and Lupin" said the teacher with a clear voice. The female stood up from her chair while she tried to calm her nerves. She had worked together with her partner for a couple days, so both of them should be ready to go. Her eyes glanced towards her partner. Remus had a concentrated look in his green eyes while his right hand tightened around his wand. The duo walked towards the teacher's desk as they tried to prepare themselves. "Please go ahead" said the man with an assuring voice. "Right" muttered the redhead as she pulled out her wand.

Emerald green eyes looked at the egg glass while her hand held the wand over the small container. Water came out from the wand and she kept a close eye on it to see how quickly it filled up the glass. The girl decided to stop when she saw the water reach the ¾ mark. 'I'll try to do it non-verbal first…glacia is not a hard spell' decided the Gryffindor. She pointed the tip of her wand at the glass while thinking of the spell. Her mind also conjured up mental images of frozen water she had seen. 'Focus now Lily. You're going to turn this water into solid ice' thought the female. She looked at the egg glass moments later to see how she had done. It was half-frozen, so she had to keep up her focus. Lily bit her lower lip in concentration as she pointed at the egg glass. This was harder than what she had imagined despite that she was not terrible at non-verbal spells. Her mind started to lose focus after about ten seconds, so the girl was forced to resign.

She lowered her wand before looking over at the egg glass that stood in front of her male partner. Her eyes widened over what she saw; it only had a number of small cracks in the ice. Flitwick then climbed up at the chair to see how they had done this. "Very good; that goes for both of you. I'll give you both a mix grade" told the male as he pointed at the paper. He first pointed at the 'E' before he pointed at the 'O'. The two students looked at each other in mild bewilderment. "Thanks Flitwick" stated the auburn-haired guy with a smile at his face. Both of them went down to their seats with a big smile at their faces.

* * *

"All right class! I must say that most of you did very well. You have probably noticed that we're having a duel-dance event at the end of this month. To refresh your knowledge, we're going to practice on some charms that can be used in duels. I'm going to write them up at the blackboard first" informed Flitwick. He waved his wand and the chalk wrote up three charms on the blackboard. Number one was 'epoximise', the second one was 'depulso' while the last spell turned out to be 'finite incatatem'. All of the students let out a small sigh since they had learned these spells already. "I know these are basic charms, but we need to practice on them in order to learn new ones. Keep in mind that complex charms often have their base in basic ones. I want you to pick a partner now that you can practice your spells with. We're going to do this for ten minutes or so" stated the older guy. Everyone scurried around to find their partners. James went towards Lily, hoping that she would not pick the people closest to her.

'Perhaps I should try to sit a bit closer to her in the future' thought the male. He had tried the 'sitting next to' strategy in their fifth year and it did not work out. Not to mention that the female tried to avoid him during the first month of their sixth year after the incident with Snape. The black-haired male cleared his throat as he approached her. "Hi Lily. Want to partner up with me?" inquired the guy while he tried to calm down his pulse. Why did his heart beat increase every time he spoke to her? Was it some kind of curse he did not know about? The redhead measured him with her eyes before she let out a small sigh. "All right James. But I won't partner up with you next round" told the girl. At the other side of the room, Mathilda had gotten a Slytherin partner while her friend was up against Sirius. Remus was with one of the Hufflepuff boys. "Good everyone! Let's line up in one line at the center of the classroom. Make sure that the distance between each partner and each pair is at least four feet. Try to do the spells without saying ANYTHING" told Flitwick. All the students spaced out a bit and started at their spells.

Annie noticed that her partner moved his shoulder, so she did a quick stabbing motion towards his tie. She pretended that the spell had failed in order to make his now sticky tie more believable. It was all a part of her plan in order to get back at him. The female then suddenly felt her body being pulled to the left while the male pointed at her. 'He must have used the depulso spell' concluded the blonde. She pointed at herself with the wand while chanting 'finite incatatem' inside her head in order to end the charm. It was harder than she had imagined; it took almost half a minute to end the spell. Her eyes then narrowed as she looked at her partner. Her hand did a quick motion as she yelled 'epoximise' inside her mind. The wand was aimed at her partner's shoes so he would not be able to move. "OI!" yelled the Gryffindor when his shoes then got glued to the floor. He attempted to point his wand at her shoes, but his hand seemed to have a mind of their own. The girl grinned as she waved her wand slightly after casting the depulso spell. She could not keep it up for a long time, but this was a bit fun.

Suddenly, someone let out a horrific scream from the other side of the room. Everyone turned their heads in surprise to see what had gone wrong. It turned out to be Mathilda who now had some giant pink snails on her right hand. "GET 'EM OFF ME NOW!" yelled the female while she tried to push them away with her wand. Her face was quite pale. Not a lot of people knew this, but she found slimy creatures to be revolting to say at the least. Snails were one of the top at her list. "Now now miss Elliot. Stand still and I'll get the snails away" assured the older man as he climbed down from his teacher desk. She stretched out her hand while she looked away. The teacher pointed his wand at her hand and the snails exploded into a number of pink bubbles. "Thanks professor" sighed the Hufflepuff in relief. Sirius snickered; he had never seen anyone be that scared of snails in his entire life. He then felt someone poke his back quite sharply and turned around to see who it was.

"Don't make fun of my friend Sirius" warned the girl who he had partnered up with. She had a cold look in her eyes. "Uhm…sorry" muttered the guy. It was not a completely sincere 'sorry' since he thought the Ravenclaw overreacted. He was no stranger to defending his friends, but her stare could probably kill a puffskein in a split second. Everyone then returned to their spell activity a few moments later. "Don't forget to let me know if any of you are attending the event in the end of this month!" told the teacher at the end of the class. After the bell rang, some of the students queued up in front of him. Two of them were Mathilda and Alice. "I'm SO HAPPY! I could not believe that I got an O at my charm homework!" squealed the female while she adjusted her glasses. "I'm quite happy with my 'E' as well. At least it's a good start at the school year" replied the other girl with a grin. After a minute, they got the chance to speak with the older man. "Hello professor. We would both like to sign up for the event at the end of the month" told the Hufflepuff girl. "Very well then. And your names are...Elliot Mathilda and Henderson Annie" said Flitwick as he dipped his quill into a bottle of ink. Both of them nodded while he wrote up their names on a piece of white parchment. "Good. I'll see you both there" stated the male with a small smile. "Thanks professor" told the Ravenclaw before they went to their next lesson.

The Marauders were on their way to lunch. 'Maybe I should loosen up my tie. It's a bit tight' thought Sirius as they approached the Great Hall. He raised his left hand and tried to adjust his tie a little. But it did not work. 'Weird' thought the male as he tried to pull a bit harder on the clothing article. Suddenly, he felt something sticky on his fingers. "What the-" muttered the black-haired guy as he raised his hand. At least three of his fingers were now covered in what seemed like transparent goo.

"What happened with your hand?" asked James as he looked at his hand. "I don't know! I was going to adjust my tie and they were covered in slime just moments later!" explained the guy with a semi-confused expression at his face. He was not sure how that could have happened. "Hm…do you think it could have happened during our lesson in charms? We did have a sticky charm to practice on" suggested Remus as he sat down at the table. His friend closed his eyes as he tried to remember what had happened. He then remembered that the blonde he had fought against had troubles with a non-verbal charm. "I think so. That girl I practiced with seemed to miss at one of the spells. Maybe that was a sticky charm" told the Gryffindor. "Case solved then! Your sticky fingers were the results of a sloppy blonde" said his friend while he polished his glasses. Little did they know that the said girl had walked next to them when Sirius had adjusted his tie. Not to mention that she had a mischievous grin at her face when she heard about the ordeal…

* * *

Maybe not QUITE the payback, but Alice is a bit uptight that way.

I wish all of you a happy autumn and happy Halloween for those who celebrate that! Please read and review this chapter if you can.


End file.
